#but she’s made it abundantly clear that she owes nobody anything

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

(She really loved Joe for a long time and really tried her best to get through to him and help him out of whatever it was until it nearly destroyed her.)

[lunarrolls]

let me make it so abundantly clear right now that taking the shard was a fucking amazing choice. obviously not from a logical standpoint, they were warned against doing that like eight billion times, but it was SUCH a good move narratively holy shit. i think ashton would have given it up to fearne if she wanted it, but she didn’t, and oh my god did they want it. they have been recklessly throwing themself into answers this entire time. they threw themself into a fucking volcano without any hesitation to get that shard. the fact that it made them feel anything at all? of COURSE they were going to grab it. he told evontra’vir that he was owed power. nobody else was going to give it to him, from his pov, so he took it himself. also it was fucking hilarious how bad of an idea it was. literally just the worst possible thing you could have done. but also it made total sense, i love it, taliesin jaffe what the actual fuck, i owe you my life, aabria iyengar i owe you my life more,

[halothenthehorns]

All in the Family

Chapter 151: Birthday Surprises

It was like finding themselves in a furnace, nearly everything in here seemed to be a violent shade of orange: the bedspread, the walls, even the ceiling. Then Lily realized that nearly every inch of the shabby space was covered with posters of the same seven witches and wizards, all wearing bright orange robes, carrying broomsticks, and waving energetically.

"The Chudley Cannons," Potter shouted in delight. "Wasn't this Ron's favorite team?"

"We are back at the Burrow already," his best mate affirmed as he glanced out the window to the garden, a bright morning sun shining down on them all.

“Merlin what a waste of a detour,” Peter grumbled. “Could have just left us here couldn’t it!” He was scowling at the ceiling as if demanding of the powers that be why they’d been pitched around as if that had ever helped anything.

Regulus pulled himself off the orange bedspread, which was emblazoned with two giant black C's and a speeding cannonball. "Hope this means he and Hermione finally make up."

Alice had found herself slipping over a pile of comics that all seemed to feature The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle right into Lupin's lap, and Frank found himself nearly falling down the stairs he tried to open the door so fast to get some space, the place was definitely not big enough for the eight of them to continue lounging in here for any comfort.

Lily nabbed the book before she followed him out, the bright silver spine standing out easily in here as they got some leg room. She hesitated uneasily in the doorway though when she saw Lupin was clearly going to stay behind, scrunching himself up uncomfortably in the window, his maroon sweater seemed to fit him as bad as the other two now, like he'd lost weight or something even worse since he put it on. How close to a full moon was it? He looked so ill at ease and she wished she could offer him some kind of comfort like his mates had done for her, but she still wasn't sure enough of herself to be pulling a stunt like that. Potter and Black were staying behind though, sitting under the sill and keeping him company but not demanding his involvement, and she watched just a bit of the tension ease out of him as he smiled down at the pair.

They were all still too full from their feast of a breakfast to really rummage for food, but Alice and Frank began prepping sandwiches for the road anyways while Lily sat on the window down here next to Erroll who had a partial tied to his leg addressed to Ron. He'd fallen asleep without even taking off yet, and she smiled and stroked the bird's gray feathers for a few moments before starting on Birthday Surprises.

"Lad's finally turning of age, wonder if it'll add any maturity to him," Peter said softly as he stretched before sitting at the table.

"Sirius'll be a hundred and still send everyone dungbombs for their birthday," Regulus stated. All five of them got a good laugh out of that, which echoed up the stairs as Lily began.

"Glad to hear they're all enjoying themselves," James said with a grin at the still open door.

"Who doesn't love a good birthday bash, it's supposed to be full of the best kind of surprises!" Sirius enthusiastically agreed.

"Doesn't make it a national holiday no matter how many petitions you sign Padfoot," Remus muttered, still looking out the window, but they could hear the smile in his voice.

James and Sirius beamed to have gotten a normal response out of him and continued in the same way, Remus' biting sarcasm still occasionally but quietly interjecting just for them. They all looked down in pity when the words stuttered uncomfortably over Harry's potions class mentioning poisons and bezoars, but she rallied herself remarkably fast, none of them were surprised. Her voice remained steady and level, she'd always been a stubborn one and that streak was as much a help as it was a hindrance when faced with a memory like that.

Remus was starting to put little tears in the creases of the paper he kept bunching it up so much in his pocket and forced his hand to stop. His action felt like an acceptance of his fate, it was almost easier to at least know an outcome he’d picked for himself now and he’d still have them in the meantime, that was abundantly clear as he watched his idiots fondly just like always.

Moony finally took his hand out of his pocket and even really started to relax when the cauldron cakes were mentioned and smacked his lips appreciatively at just the thought, letting one leg dangle down now. Sirius shifted unconsciously and leaned against him, waving his hands energetically as he told of that being something he'd learn to cook in any way possible.

Prongs didn't seem to think it so funny anymore when they were all bluntly reminded of the love potion Romilda Vane had slipped in there and the awkward silence hung for a few moments before Remus quietly spoke, "I still owe you payback for that, don't think I've forgotten," while giving Sirius a friendly nudge with his shoe.

"I'll double team with you," James raised his hand and beamed as Remus high-fived.

Sirius looked legitimately concerned at these two pranking him with no clear way to get out of it in these conditions, but all three were distracted by Harry, Ron, and Slughorn winding up in the same office, and a very particular bottle getting mentioned- "Oh shit!"

All three bounded to their feet and all but fell on each other as they went down the stairs in concern. They made it down in time to see Lily trying to keep up a brave face not to give up the book, but failing at it and finally giving up to turn into Alice's shoulder as Harry began describing in detail what happened to Ron.

Nobody wanted to even look at the book. If Ron died from that like Lily had come so close to doing...

Peter snatched up the book with another apology, but he didn't need to be good at magic to read a book! He could still help in this way to find an answer, it was better than just hanging in suspension wondering.

Harry, remarkably, did what even their Potions teacher had not. James fell against the wall in shock and pride for his son even as the rest of the guilt tried to ease away as he replayed it all in his head again, even the bloody teacher couldn't always react in time...

Lily breathed again when Ron did, but Alice kept rubbing her back and she didn't even think to pull away as her trembling slowed.

[tomeandflickcorner]

Episode Review- The Real Ghostbusters: Look Homeward, Ray

So, we had a Slimer centric and a Winston centric episode. Looks like it’s Ray’s turn, now.

We begin with the Ecto-1 pulling up to Grand Central Terminal, with Peter, Winston and Egon exiting the vehicle, their arms laden with various items.  It turns out that they’re there to see off Ray, who is taking some time off to visit his hometown of Morrisville.  Apparently, Morrisville has its own legendary monster called the Winged Puma, which I gather is their version of the Jersey Devil or something.  According to legend, the Winged Puma once terrorized the town of Morrisville in times long past, until it was somehow banished to the depths of the Earth.  And now, a Winged Puma Parade is held in Morrisville every ten years in commemoration of the local legend.  Ray’s visit, it turns out, coincides with the date of one of these parades.  Because he has been chosen to be the parade’s grand marshal.  This honor seems to have taken Ray by surprise, as everyone back home apparently never believed that he would ever amount to anything.  But I guess Ray’s fame as a Ghostbuster has made him something of a town hero, so take that, naysayers.

So Peter, Egon and Winston arrive at the station just in time to catch Ray before he boards the train.  They proceed to give him a sizable sack of articles, scrapbooks and even a film reel that focuses on what Ray does as a Ghostbuster, so Ray can show them off to the town.    Ray accepts the offerings from his friends, but then a slight disturbance erupts when Slimer, ignoring Peter’s instructions to wait in the car, flies up to give Ray a Stay Puft doll (and frightening a few civilians in the process).  This is obviously supposed to mirror how a small child might give their teddy bear to a parent who is going away for a few days. It’s made abundantly clear that Slimer is particularly sad to see Ray go, and nothing seems to cheer him up, even when Ray tries to reassure Slimer that he’ll only be 30 miles away and will be back in a few days.  (By the by, Morrisville, NY is actually 240 miles away from New York City according to Mapquest.  So either Ray is a big fat liar or someone on the show staff didn’t check their facts.)

Shortly after arriving in Morrisville, Ray is given this great big welcoming ceremony by the Morrisville Mayor.  (Though he ends up calling Ray ‘Roy,’ which was probably meant to indicate how Ray was previously seen as a nobody in this town.)  As the welcoming ceremony winds down, Ray is approached by two particular individuals.  The first is a woman called Elaine Phermon, who was Ray’s childhood crush. (And that crush is apparently still there, as indicated by the hearts that appear in Ray’s eyes.)  The other is a man called Alan Favish, who I guess used to bully Ray while claiming to be his friend.  Both Elaine and Alan take a little time to catch up with Ray.  Elaine tells Ray that she’d kept track of the Ghostbusters exploits mostly because of his involvement with them.  Alan, on the other hand, comments on how everyone once believed he would be going places while Ray would be the town nobody.  But now, it turns out Ray is a huge celebrity while Alan simply became a shoe salesman.  Although, this whole conversation does have a point, as it comes out that Elaine has recently inherited the old Pallo Mansion.  The only problem is that the Pallo Mansion is haunted and therefore she can’t place any tenants there, nor can she sell the place.  Seeing his opportunity to provide the people of his hometown with a little demonstration, Ray opens up the briefcase he’d brought with them, which ends up containing his Ghostbusting equipment.  Upon arriving at the mansion, Ray pulls out his PKE Meter and determines that the ghosts haunting the place are simply Class 2 Mini Wraiths, meaning they’re particularly weak ghosts.

However, as Ray begins to get to work in dealing with the Class 2 ghosts, we see a mysterious figure enter into a room elsewhere.  The mysterious figure climbs up a ladder to retrieve a spell book that was hidden on a shelf.  Upon opening the spell book, the figure recites a particular spell that seems to give the two ghosts a power boost.   While the episode is clearly making an attempt to keep the identity of the spell caster a mystery, it’s OBVIOUS who it is at this point.  Anyway, because of the spell that was cast, not only do the Pallo Mansion Ghosts grow in size and strength, Ray’s Proton Streams are ineffective against them.  As a result, they are able to effortlessly toss Ray aside and proceed to trash all the tents and stands that were erected for the Winged Puma Parade.  Once they’re done wreaking havoc, the Pallo Mansion Ghosts return to the mansion, leaving Ray to face the wrath of the Mayor, who is fuming over the property damage.  Especially since there’s not enough money left in the town treasury to cover the repairs. Out of nowhere, Alan pops up, offering to personally cover the cost of the repairs.  The Mayor accepts the offer, announcing that Alan will be the parade’s grand marshal instead of Ray.

Disheartened, Ray returns to the Firehouse.  After arriving, the guys all help him perform operation checks on Ray’s equipment and find that everything is operating normally. So there’s no explanation for why Ray failed to capture the Pallo Mansion Ghosts.  Unfortunately, this leaves Ray feeling as if the problem is him, despite Winston’s attempts at reassuring him that everyone has off days. Peter then states that it would be pretty foolish of Ray to go back to Morrisville in an attempt at proving something to the townsfolk (while whispering to Winston that he’ll bet him $5 that Ray will end up doing just that).  Sure enough, the next scene shows Ray sneaking through the woods leading up to the Pallo Mansion.  

As he’s making his way through the woods, he is startled by the sudden appearance of Elaine, who had heard someone moving about outside and came out with a flashlight to investigate.  Upon seeing Ray, she immediately decides to accompany him back to the Pallo Mansion.  Meanwhile, back at the Firehouse, Egon has discovered a note Ray had left behind to explain what he’s doing.  Which prompts him to wake up Peter and Winston (with the former announcing that Winston now owes him $5).  Egon, Peter and Winston all head out to Morrisville in the Ecto-1 to join Ray and give him assistance.  They arrive just when Ray is pretty much getting the stuffing knocked out of him, as his efforts in catching the Pallo Mansion Ghosts only end up with his head getting shoved through an old painting.  However, when the other Ghostbusters arrive on the scene, the not-so mysterious spell caster returns, secretly reversing the spell he cast earlier. This results in the Pallo Ghosts reverting back to their naturally weak state, making it all too easy for them to be caught.

Of course, this just leaves Ray feeling like an even bigger failure, since his teammates were effortlessly able to catch ghosts that gave him such trouble.  As a result, he decides to quit the team, practically running off in tears.  The others all run after him and try to get him to reconsider.  But Ray is too disheartened to rethink his decision.  That’s when Alan suddenly appears on the scene, apparently out on a morning jog.  He announces that he couldn’t help overhearing Ray’s decision to quit the Ghostbusters (with nobody questioning how he was apparently able to overhear, since he couldn’t possibly have been within earshot when Ray made his announcement), and immediately offers Ray a job at his shoe store.

Ray ends up taking the job at Alan’s shoe store.  Which, for some reason, requires him to dress up in a pink bunny suit.  (Think A Christmas Story.)  However, Winston, Peter and Egon haven’t given up trying to get Ray to come back to the team.  Though their efforts are pretty much fruitless, as Ray simply hands Winston his Proton Pack.  While apparently becoming a telepath, as his mouth doesn’t move when he announces that they can use the relinquished Proton Pack for parts.  (Someone on the animation team clearly fell asleep.) Winston, however, refuses to accept Ray’s Proton Pack, insisting on leaving it hanging up nearby.

With that, Egon announces that they’re wasting their time, and all but drags Peter and Winston off.  Though Egon isn’t really giving up in trying to figure out how to get Ray to come back to the team.  He simply knows that Ray is too despondent to listen to them.  So they need to come up with another tactic.  (Although, when Peter firmly tells him that electric shock isn’t an option, Egon immediately announces that they’ll go with Plan B instead. Which makes me wonder what exactly Plan A was.  Not to mention chuckle a bit over how well Peter knows Egon.)

Plan B apparently involves disguising Slimer by wrapping him up in an old mattress, desk lamps and whatnot and making it look like some new sort of ghost is chasing them in the Ecto-1, with them staging the performance outside the shoe store so Ray could see what’s going on.  And it nearly works, as Ray doesn’t hesitate to grab his Proton Pack when he sees that his friends appear to be in trouble. Unfortunately, the ruse is revealed when an ice cream truck just happens to pass by.  And Slimer, unable to resist, gives himself away.  (Although, I was admittedly surprised that he actually ends up eating the fiberglass ice cream cone that resided on top of the truck. I can’t imagine that tasted good.) Once Ray realizes that it was all a trick, he returns to the shoe store, feeling as miserable as ever.

Sometime later, Ray is in the middle of trying to sell shoes to a rather hard-to-please customer.  He is surprised when Elaine pays him a visit.  She tells him that she doesn’t think any less of him for his earlier failures, stating that the fact that he tried is what makes him a real hero in her eyes.  While Elaine is there, they stumble across the spell book hidden among the shelves of the shoe store by chance.  As such, it’s revealed that the mysterious spell caster from earlier was Alan.  (Big fat duh!)  Right away, Ray finds the spell Alan used to power up the Pallo Mansion Ghosts.  It turns out the spell that was used surrounds the ghosts with negative energy, which explains why Ray’s Proton Pack was unable to have any effect on them earlier. Because the Proton Packs work on positive energy.

Unfortunately, there’s an even bigger problem now.  When Alan lifted the Negative Energy spell from the Pallo Mansion Ghosts, the spell didn’t just go away.  It instead made its way underground, where it awoke the Winged Puma from its slumber.  And the Winged Puma emerges from the street in the middle of the parade.  To make it worse, when Alan tries to stop the Winged Puma with his spell book, he ultimately failed, with the spell book getting destroyed when the Winged Puma started to shoot out fireballs from its mouth.

Ray quickly manages to join up with Egon, Peter and Winston, who are trying to stop the Winged Puma with their Proton Packs to no avail.  Ray quickly tells them that the reason their Proton Streams are ineffective is because the Winged Puma is surrounded by negative energy.  Fortunately, Ray has an idea.  After borrowing a screwdriver from Mr. Johnson’s shop, he literally reverses the polarity of the neutron flow on the Proton Packs (Long-time Doctor Who fans will probably get a kick out of this). Ray’s plan seems to work, as it results in the Winged Puma getting driven off.  But the Ghostbusters know that they shouldn’t let the monster get away, as it would probably come back later or move on to terrorize another town. So they rig up a makeshift hot air balloon, using the parade balloon of Ray and the giant shoe from Alan’s parade float, to go after the Winged Puma.  In the end, they are able to capture the monster in a Ghost Trap.  

Once the day is saved, Elaine is able spell it out to the few viewers who couldn’t figure things out on their own- that Alan has tried to set things up the way he did to make Ray look bad, because he was jealous of Ray’s success.  But because his plan backfired on him, Alan is now an even bigger disgrace than he was before, as he’s left to try and repair his shoe store (which was demolished during the Winged Puma’s rampage) on his own, as the insurance company probably wouldn’t buy his explanation on what caused the damage.  The Mayor also approaches Ray to apologize for everything, also offering to make Ray the parade grand marshal again.  Because the parade is going to go on.  Except Ray freaks out a bit when he sees a float bearing the likeness of the Winged Puma and he mistakenly fires his Proton Pack at it, destroying the float in the process.  Thankfully, his honest mistake is laughed off, and Ray even gets a kiss on the cheek from Elaine.

While the plot is a bit predictable, with a completely failed attempt at hiding the identity of the mysterious spell caster, it’s still a pretty good attempt at giving Ray the spotlight.  Though it’s anyone’s guess how Alan got this spell book in the first place.  And much like how it was with Samhain, I’m curious over who exactly was responsible for initially stopping the Winged Puma in the past.  It’s a shame those answers will probably never be answered.

(Click here for more Ghostbusters reviews)

[indulgenceweave]

Character Details - Cordalia Darwall

Pronunciation: Core-dah-lee-ah Dah-wall Nicknames: Cor, Cap Height: 5 fulms 6 ilms Age: 28 Languages: Common

The only true-born daughter of the Darwall pair, Cordalia is an adventurous young woman who seeks true freedom.

She took to the skies only a few years ago, seeing it as a logical next step in her dream for freedom. She quickly climbed her way to the rank of Captain aboard her own ship, the original Skyfall, before expanding her loyalty and forces to a total of three vessels.

In an incidental conflict with Garlean forces, her flagship, the Guardian Edge, was brought down over Ghimlyt. Thought dead for a short time, Cordalia eventually made a dramatic return to Eorzea aboard her new vessel pilfered from Garlean custody, the Shiva-class Brannvinge.

The skies belong to no man, and to Cordalia, there is no crime greater than trying to claim them for your own.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

Hair colour: Dyed jet-black. Naturally light brown. Eye colour: Bright emerald green. Skin tone: Lightly tanned. Body type: Tall and lean, owing to a fast-acting metabolism.  Accent: Ala Mhigan, with the occasional slip into Lominsan due to her sailing companions. Dominant hand: Left handed. Posture: Stands tall but casually, portraying authority and smugness both. Scars: The odd scar or scratch along Codalia’s torso and arms. Mostly unmarked otherwise. Tattoos: None! Most noticeable features: Her emerald eyes catch the light extremely well- an accidental birth trait, as opposed to anything more mysterious. Doesn’t help much with stealth, but what can you do?

CHILDHOOD.

Place of birth: Ala Ghiri, Gyr Abania Hometown: Lives aboard the Brannvinge. Birth weight / height: Cordalia was slightly underweight at birth, though this caused no problems. Manner of birth: Natural. First words: “Bird!” Siblings: Hayzell Darwall (aka X’Rahna Lenn, Adoptive) Parents: Braeke Darwall, Jennifer Darwall Parental Involvement: Cordalia’s parents were extremely caring and active throughout Cordalia’s life. Then didn’t much care for her turn to shadier activities, but continued to support her all the same. She still visits them often. Total daddy’s girl.

ADULT LIFE

Occupation: Captain of the Shiva-class airship Brannvinge. Sky Privateer and Mercenary. Current Residence: The Brannvinge (Airship), Shirogane (Free Company)  Close Friends: K’aila Riki ( @thestraymuses ), Kellian Grey ( @kelliangrey-ffxivrp ) Relationship status: Single. Financial status: Mysteriously wealthy beyond her means. Nobody has yet asked her from whence her money came. Chocobo license: Cordalia is liscenced to own a Chocobo, but chooses not to keep them aboard her ship. Her family has a few birds, none among them more loyal than one named Phoenix. Vices: Sex and alcohol and cigarettes, abusing loopholes in local laws to piss off local authorities and draw the endless ire of the Confederacy.

SEX & ROMANCE.

Sexual orientation: Bisexual. Romantic orientation: Polyamorous Preferred emotional role: submissive | dominant | switch |  unsure Preferred sexual role: submissive  |  dominant  | switch |  sex repulsed Turn ons: Cordalia will claim that she is open to much and more, but what she’s loathe to admit is that she loves those who play hard to get. The thrill of the chase followed by the satisfaction of capturing what she wants is a major turn on. Turn offs: Anyone exercising illegitimate authority over her, anyone claiming the free skies as their own, abusive partners, overly-attached partners. Love language: Cordalia is a sucker for good romance, even if she doesn’t practice it herself. Personally, she is rather direct, moving in for flirtatious language and physical contact to make her point abundantly clear. She is quick to retreat if her prospect shows no interest, however. Relationship tendencies:  Cordalia is not necessarily guarded, but simply doesn’t care much to engage in emotional partnerships. When she does, however, her partner(s) will find a fiercely loyal companion who will move the very skies if it were needed. She is exceedingly generous, to those she considers worth the trouble.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Hobbies to pass the time: Drinking, harassing the Confederacy, training and maintaining her crews’ morale, partying hard. Mental illnesses: Low-grade Sociopath Physical illnesses: None. Left or right brained: Right. Fears: Losing her crew and ships, again. The concept of imprisonment or capture. Self confidence level: Massive.  Vulnerabilities: Arrogance, and a faith to family that leads her to dark places.

Tagged by: Stolen from @vexredain!

Tagging: Nobody, but feel free to steal it! This post was made for the Most Excellent @alun-ura!